Silent anxiety settles in many adolescents and young adults from the Cavid-19 pandemic: peniaphobia, this irrational fear of poverty. Marked by the fear of spending, not to succeed or even crossing homeless people, it undermines confidence in the future in a context of economic crises, increased rents and permanent instability.
Peniaphobia, this fear of poverty that grows among young people
Peniaphobia may appear from adolescence, college or high school, often under the effect of strong parental pressure on success. In a post-pandemic climate marked by the precariousness of employment and the fear of failure, it finds a fertile soil. Psychologist Amélie Boukhobza clearly explains it: “It is true that we talk about it little, yet peniaphobia – the fear of poverty – is there“. She adds:”Deaf, often shameful, easily trivialized. Among young people, it today has a particular magnitude“.
This fear goes far beyond money. As the specialist points out, “It’s not just the fear of lacking money. It is the fear of falling. To lose the little that has been built. To see the gap widening. To be “dumped ‘in a society obsessed with success, performance, speed and accumulation“.
Social networks and social pressure, anxiety amplifiers
Social networks maintain this fear. Young people see luxurious lifestyles scrolling, accentuating the feeling of gap. According to Amélie Boukhobza: “Not only should you have, but you also have to show. Influencers oblige. Next to it, the slightest restriction can quickly look like a failure or a shame. And that, we hear it a lot!“”
This climate of permanent comparison nourishes ruminations and insomnia, can cause eating disorders, headaches and, in the most serious cases, suicidal ideas. Some young people take refuge in hyper-control or exhausting overproduction, while others give up projecting themselves, convinced that the future no longer offers guarantees.
How to appease the daily peniaphobia?
Faced with this suffering, there are tracks to appease anxiety. Psychological work consists first of identifying and questioning the thoughts that nourish fear. But simple gestures can also help:
- Practice heart consistency or conscious breathing;
- Integrate yoga or meditation to regulate chronic stress;
- Avoid permanent comparison with others;
- Adopt a reassuring parental posture, far from the pressure on success.
In the most severe cases, consulting a psychologist helps support the young person in the construction of a more peaceful relationship in the future and self -value. As Amélie Boukhobza sums it up: “So talking about it is already giving meaning“, because “Behind this fear are played out deeper things“.